The Abbott government “reset” yesterday provides a valuable opportunity to reconsider health policies based on the idea that Australia’s health system is unsustainable. But first it will need to embrace…

The Coalition government is on the wrong track of reform for delivering better health.
Alan English/FlickrFebruary 5, 2015

The Coalition government has been claiming that Australia’s public health system is unsustainable since the 2014 budget. But its plans for the health system actually reflect the underlying belief that…

Non-concession patients may end up paying a A$30 to A$40 co-payment, not a A$5 one.
Pete/ShutterstockFebruary 4, 2015

The Christmas-New Year silly season gave Australia three health policies. At the start of December, the policy from the 2014 budget was still on life support. But in mid-December, then-health minister…

The primary care reform debate of the last 15 months got off on the wrong foot. It was framed in terms of cutting government spending, with an overlay that consumers needed to bear the brunt of system…

The AMA described the proposed reimbursement changes for level B consultations as “an assault on general practice”.
AAP Image/Lukas CochJanuary 20, 2015

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has emerged from the recent brouhaha over the Abbott government’s proposed Medicare reforms as both a winner in the protection of doctors’ incomes and an apparent…

A blueprint for Medicare reform must include cost control, but also support quality and equity.
Dave Hunt/AAPJanuary 20, 2015

The Abbott government is struggling with its Medicare co-payment reform, scrapping the latest version for a period of consultation, starting this week. The government claims it wants to make Medicare sustainable…

The big losers will be ordinary patients.
Image Point Fr/ShutterstockDecember 10, 2014

In the May budget, the Commonwealth government proposed a A$7 co-payment for GP services and tests done outside a hospital. After seven months of fierce criticism, the government abandoned those plans…

The government has changed its proposed $7 GP co-payment to $5 but the flaws underlying the policy remain.
AAP Image/Dave HuntDecember 10, 2014

The Federal government’s attempt to impose a $5 co-payment on GP services by regulation raises the same issues as its previous failed attempt to impose a $7 co-payment through legislation. The consequences…

If you don’t have a concession card and are usually bulk billed, you may face a A$5 co-payment, or more.
Image Point Fr/ShutterstockDecember 10, 2014

The Abbott government has scrapped its controversial A$7 co-payment plan and replaced it with a A$5 cut to GP rebates for patients over 16 without a concession card, and other rebate changes. The revised…

In the government’s latest “scraping away the barnacles” of unpopular and blocked policies, prime minister Tony Abbott and health minister Peter Dutton have announced they’re abandoning the plan to have…

Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott have presented a less controversial Medicare co-payment that should be easier to sell to the public.
AAP/Lukas CochDecember 9, 2014

The government has stepped back from its A$7 proposed co-payment for visiting the GP but still aims to skin the Medicare cat, putting the onus on doctors to send a $5 price signal to non-concessional patients…